10 Small Things That Make Me Happy and Freeform Friday

 

 

Take Time To Smile

 

Since we got a few things off our chests thanks to Thursday's 10 Things That Make Me Crazy post, I thought we should end the week on a high note with focus on some positive things.

So in response to 10 Things That Make Crazy, here's 10 Small Things That Make Me Happy.

1. Fridays. I just love 'em. (is an entire day too big for this list?)

2. The smell of lilacs wafting through the air.

3. The hound. He makes me smile every day. That Lucan can be pretty funny.

4. Being able to see the stars at night from my bedroom window when I go to bed.

5. My handy dandy ruler that has decimal conversions printed on it. YAY.

6. A good cuppa Irish breakfast tea in the morning.

7. When I fall asleep on the couch and my husband puts the afghan over me.

8. My big Jacki O sunglasses.

9. Sticky notes [even if my wall is covered in them].

10. Gold paper clips.


So.......what about you? What small thing makes you happy?


Freeform Friday

This song makes me happy and makes me want to groove. Ms. Shirley Bassey is just too cool for school and one hot momma. If you're reading by email click here.



Any plans for the weekend? We're going out to dinner with my parents tonight to Mama Leone's season opening at our beach. It's an annual event where we all get to see familiar faces we haven't seen in too long.  Oh, and eat delicious Italian food. Hello.

Have a great Friday,

Flower Arranging Made Easy

Flower Arrangements Don't Have To Be Hard

Do you incorporate fresh flowers in your home? Are you intimidated at the thought of arranging fresh flowers?  You don't have to.  It's time to enjoy fresh flowers without any fuss.

Fresh flowers made easy:

1. Keep it simple. Use one type of flower in your arrangement. That's it.


Let me illustrate how easy it is to accent your home with fresh flowers by keeping it simple.


{sometimes even a single stem will do}

{two varieties of the same flower}

{simplicity can be dramatic}

{one type of flower can have big impact even when it's small}

See.

Easy peasy.

Have you brought any flowers into your home lately? What's blooming where you are?


It's a beautiful day here. The sun is shining, it's warming up over the last couple of days and may even hit 80 here.  I'll take it, but guess I should get going on springing up the pool, which means lots of de-leafing because once again, the cover didn't cooperate.  Being the water bug I am, it's always worth it in the end.

By the way, comments on yesterdays post '10 Things That Make Drive Crazy' were nothing short of hilarious.  You all went above and beyond your duty in making me laugh out loud. If you haven't already, feel free to add to the list. 

Make it a great day, it's a great day to have.

Ciao for now,

10 Things That Drive Me Crazy

In No Particular Order

So here's the deal.  I was planning on doing an Inspired Design post today, but each picture I clicked on that I wanted to include, had absolutely no attribution as to where came from and it started to drive me nuts. Really nuts. That is why, instead, you are getting 10 Things That Drive Me Crazy.

Beginning with the obvious.......

1. Beautiful photographs on this big old world wide web that have not been sourced. If you can't attribute it to where it came from, don't post it. I'm sure the person who originally took the photograph worked hard to get it to look so great, so why would you want to post it without giving them credit? It is their work, right?

2. Grubs. They're icky, they're gross and they are literally the only thing I will kill. Add the fact that they completely desimate our lawn just about every year and you can see where I'm going with this one.

3. Chairs that aren't pushed in. It's a pet peeve. I think I've mentioned it before. But seriously, you stand up from a table and leave without pushing your chair back in? What's with that? {I know, I'm weird.}

4. You know those Geico commercials with the guy and all the kids? Well the one with the little girl ranting {read: whining in the most horrific nasal, depressing voice} about why more is less.....like nails on the chalkboard to me. If I knew where she lived, I might even impart some bodily harm on the poor child. OK, I wouldn't go that far but I sure would put a sock in her mouth.

5. Speaking of nails on chalkboards.............

6. People who leave ridiculously long messages on your answering machine. I don't need the entire conversation you were going to have with me, just the fine points like name and number.

7. Being more disorganized than I would like. It makes me so confused. I wonder why? Wait. What was I saying?

8. The lack of integrity that is running rampant at the moment. Nobody is as good as their word anymore. We wonder how we got to this point in time in our world? This is one of the reasons. 

9. Crazy-ass 20 foot vine weeds with really long roots, wrapping themselves around flowers and trees alike. What are they? Where did they come from? And why are they here?

10. The sound of other people chewing. It's a problem. A big problem. I am not making this up. There is actually a word for it....it's  misophonia. I've got it.

There you have it, 10 things that drive me completely bonkers.

And you?


Ciao for now,

In The Garden

 

Trees Bloom

 

We've been working out in one of my flower gardens. It's kind of a secret garden in the corner, that sometimes people who have been here a gazillion times don't even know it's there. I'm not sure why that is.  When we moved here, it was chock full of junky fill like chunks of pavement and concrete. I'm not sure why that was either. 

 

We made two big burms in the back that go right up to the stone wall, a bed in the middle where the flowering tree is, and two beds in front. There's a little path that meanders through.

 

I call it wild thing. You can guess why.  Nah, never mind, I'll tell you. This is no 'manicured' garden.  Things can get a little gnarly in there, like at the moment it seems to be overrun with some crazy wild rose and another vine. Oh yeah, and weeds. And, the mutant black eyed Susan my friend Pearl gave me. Least I forget leaves.

 

The mystery tree that we planted in the middle of the garden is in full bloom. I'm happy to report it has an off shoot that is in full bloom too.

 

 

 

The lilacs are in full bloom too. Not so 10 minutes east at my parent's. Guess that cool coastal air has got them behind a bit.  I however, will be cutting enough bouquets to fill just about everyone of my vases and fill the house with that heavenly sent.

Now, back to the mystery tree. That's it on the right. On the left is my flowering crab apple. There's been lots of guesses on our facebook page as to what exactly the tree on the right is. Some think it too is a flowering crab apple.  Unless it's a completely different variety, I'm still shaking my head in wonder.  Leaves are a different color, flowers a different color, and it also blooms at a different time with mystery tree blooming first.

Anybody else got a guess?  It's flowers are light pink that turn the palest pink and white when opened. It doesn't fruit per se, but does get a small little berry come fall. It's a hard little berry.

Wish I knew more but it was a tree that Gman got from a job site where it was going to be thrown away. So we have no info other than, it sure is pretty and it's still going strong.


Sunset Meadows

The other night the clouds turned a pretty soft pink.

Last night the sky glowed.

While we were out in the garden this morning, before the day kicked into full gear, lo and behold, neighborhoodlum Tom came over in the tractor with a bucket load of wood for the campfire. You gotta love genrous neighbors with tractors.

The temp is a bit chilly here today, but the sun is out so we'll take it.

My college roommate is in Pennsylvania and itwas snowing there yesterday. We sure don't need any of that.

What's happening in your corner of the world? Do you have a garden that you've been spending time in? Are you planting a container garden? Or do you skip the green thumb test altogether?

Have a great Tuesday.

Ciao for now,

Pardon Me While I Attend to Techinical Difficulties

Uncooperative Computer

Well, that's my story. The computer is being quite finicky at the moment and preventing me from posting a real post.

Hopefully I can clear things up for tomorrow's post.

In the meantime, enjoy this lovely 'summer' cactus my Dad got my Mom for Mother's Day.

Pretty, pretty.

Hope you enjoyed your Mother's Day. It was a nice day here and we spent some time visiting at my parent's house.  What about you, did you do anything special?

Ciao for now,

Take A Walk With Us & Freeform Friday

 

To The Field & Back

 

We woke to a foggy morning. It's been that way the last few days. I took a walk over to the field where much  was covered with dew from the heavy air and the fog still lingered. 

 

 

 

 

How crazy is the orange thing on the cedar? I finally searched for an answer as to what it is. Cedar Apple Rust to be exact. A fungi that, luckily, isn't particularly harmful.  Just weird.

Then back to the yard.

Things are starting to pop in my secret corner garden. I haven't even gotten in to rake yet. I'm so behind.

I have no idea what the tree is. We got from a job site G was working on years ago. It looks very similar to apple blossoms but there's no fruit.

Lo and behold, look what the rain has gone and done.......

............hurried my lilacs along.  Glorious.


Sunset Meadows

As I said, we've had fog this week and not just at the beginning of the day. It's also rolled in at the end of the day. It was just starting to creep when I got this picture of Sunset Meadows.

 

 

Freeform Friday

 

Going a little old school today. The high sweet sound of Mr. Hall harmonizing with Mr. Oates. Call me Martha....it's a good thing.  Click here if you're reading by email.

 

 

Just because I feel like it, today's Freeform Friday is a twofer.

 

Different decade, but old school just the same. An 80s classic from The Jam. Bonus points for you if you know the lead singer's name. Click here if you're reading by email.

 

Any plans for the weekend? We get to finally have a campfire since we got some rain. It will be an early one tonight because our Bruins play Toronto tonight and we could end the series tonight with a win. If that happens, you might here me screaming from here.

Shower/bath reconstruction is progressing, though we're not quite ready for paint yet. Some sheetrock mudding and sanding to do (probably my least favorite thing about construction projects because it makes a bloody mess) before we paint.  Being the hopeful gal I am though, I picked up some paint chips so I can at least hone in on the right hue.

Other than that, we'll be visiting Mom at some point on Sunday. Happy Mother's Day weekend to all of you moms and grandmothers. Hope you all have a great day.

Ciao for now,

 

 

 

Favorite Finds

Etsy Style

As you probably know already, we have a shop on etsy, Bates Mercantile Co. Visiting etsy on a regular basis for our shop, gives me a good reason to discover new and wonderful things from other shops. At least I think it gives me a good reason.

So, today I'm sharing with you, some of my recent favorite finds.  It's an eclectic grouping, to say the least.

 

1. necklace via fiber bungalow
2. art photo via theaterclouds
3. dish via nadas corner
4. zippered pouch via Eyelah
5. flying horse via benconservato

6. vintage dansk candleholder via tippleandsnack
7. oxidized sterling ring via Stilosissima
8. vintage koi via Birdnestsandpaper

What do you think? Do you have a favorite?

Too hard for me to pick but I really am digging that vintage dansk candleholder. It's too cool. 

Check out the art photo by theaterclouds......it's an entire miniature theater image that the artists puts together and then photographs. So charming and unique.

There is so much to love about etsy, and variety is certainly up there.

Do you visit and shop on etsy? Have any new favorite finds you want to share?

Gray day here. Then there's always tomorrow.

Ciao for now,